Welcome to the Spring 2017 edition of the Psychoanalytic Activist!

This edition is a unique one for us. It involves a collaborative project of several voices sharing their concerns about the current Presidential administration in the United States. Entitled the First 100 Days, the concerns each author shares are diverse, and show a breadth of what is under attack. All told, we have had 33 submissions. If you have not already looked through them, please do check them out.

Next we turn to activities occurring within Section IX, discussed by Lynne Layton’s presidential column as well as Karen Rosica’s spotlight of Section IX member, Nancy Burke and the exciting clinic where she works in Chicago.  Nancy’s work reminds me of the concept of Freud’s free clinics, an incredibly worthy mission. I am grateful for Karen’s work in bringing this new feature for us, there is a great deal of inspiring members of Section IX, and we will be hearing more about their projects.

One exciting project underway at the Psychoanalytic Activist involves a writing mentorship program. In the Spring of 2016, Nadine Obeid and I realized the desire for younger clinicians to be mentored, and we announced a Writing Mentorship. This project pairs a writing mentee with a more experienced writer to help them grow in their psychoanalytic and cultural sensibility. Today, we have our first published result of one of these mentorship relationships. Eva Blodgett has written a piece focusing on the way a student status can further reify the split present in psychoanalysis between clinical work and politics. I am grateful for her hard work and her mentor’s Steven Botticelli’s patient thoughtfulness.

Our next piece is written by Stephanie Heck and discusses our societies failure to attend to parent’s psychological changes. She argues this failure serves to perpetuate intergenerational trauma. Stephanie asks, when will we attend to the changes parents undergo in psychological development, to help create a kinder more empathic society?

Finally, Oksana Yakushko focuses on the struggle of being a professor focused on teaching in a liberatory manner. She explores the struggle of holding and validating diverse emotional states in a classroom, all while evaluating and grading her students. It is an important read for any trainer who values social justice.

It is true that the work of those that contributed to the works listed above is extensive, painstaking and difficult. I would like to thank those who have contributed so much, certainly all the authors, but also our Assistant and Associate editors. Our wonderful Assistant editors include Macy Wilson, Andrea Recarte, and Maria Christoff. Our Associate editors for this edition include Lara Sheehi, Batsirai Bvunzawabaya, and Karen Rosica. Without these editors we would not have as robust a newsletter as we do.

If you enjoy our newsletter, please consider writing something. Contributions are what keep us growing. Any ideas for submissions should be sent to Matthew LeRoy at matthewleroypsyd@gmail.com

Thank you all and hope you enjoy!

Matt